One man is showing the hate he receives regularly on Grindr for being HIV-positive.
Tom Hayes is the editor of the website Beyond Positive and often talks about the realities of living with HIV.
Hayes then went beyond the borders of his one website to address the topic. Hayes decided to share screenshots of abuse he receives on Grindr because of having HIV.
In the initial tweet that started the thread, Hayes wrote:
“One thing I hear again and again when talking to the media, or the negative general population, is that ‘HIV is sorted now isn’t it?’.”
“Medically? Treatments are simple, effective and stop onwards transmission.”
“Socially? HAH. NO. NOPE.”
From there, Hayes posted several screenshots of men saying things like, “You should be publicly executed,” and “Bet you wish you’d worn a rubber now slut.”
Take a look at some of the disgusting messages down below.
GayStarNews talked to Hayes about the tweets and living with HIV.
“Medically HIV is an incredible success story, it’s the fastest moving disease area in the world. We’ve gone from discovery of the virus to a single daily pill that stops you passing it on in just 30 years.”
“Sadly, society hasn’t moved at the same pace. People living with HIV still have to deal with stigma on a daily basis – be it from HIV negative peers, tattoo parlours or even the medical profession.”
“I wanted to share just a few of the messages I’ve received online to highlight the issue – and hopefully make people think twice before rejecting someone because of their HIV status.”
h/t: GayStarNews